Societal Issues in The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Lee Cannon-Brown, Lucy Macdonald, Jacob Wolstencroft, Mariko Adams
Family Bonds / · “[Harpo] start to call, Mama, Mama. It wake me up. The other children, too. They cry like they mama just die.” –pg. 29 / · This quote is from the period in time where Harpo has been having nightmares about his mom’s death.· It is significant because it demonstrates how Harpo (and the other children) miss their mom. Also, one could argue that the nightmares are caused by Sofia’s dad not allowing her to marry Harpo because someone killed his mom and thus the children are affected as the rest of the community judges the entire family.
· “Harpo want to know what to do to make Sofia mind” –pg. 36 / · Because Harpo grew up in a family where the woman never talked back, he does not feel as though he has a family with Sofia, as she doesn’t listen to him.
· Significant because it shows how people want to replicate the sort of family they had as a child.
· “Shug say, Us each other’s peoples now, and kiss me.” –pg. 184 / · At this point in the novel, Celie has learnt that Alphonso isn’t her father and her and Shug have gone to find her parents’ graves. But they don’t find them.
· Demonstrates how friendships become people’s family.
· “And I see [the children] think me and Nettie and Shug and Albert and Samuel and Harpo and Sofia and Jack and Odessa real old and don’t know much what going on. But I don’t think us feel old at all. And us so happy. Matter of fact, I think this the youngest us ever felt.” / · This is the very end of the novel and the quote discusses the children’s perspective of the adults.
· As a family, the kids always observe the adults and make their own opinions about them.
· The adults, all together, feel young and happy because they are all together and they feel like a family.
Industrialization / · “The road finally reached the cassava fields about nine months ago, and the Olinka, who love nothing better than a celebration, outdid themselves preparing a feast for the roadbuilders… and there was merrymaking far into the night.” –pg. 169 / · People had been waiting for the road to be “completed” for a long time.
· The Olinka were excited about the industrialization of the road because it meant to them that travel would be easier.
· They celebrated the construction of the road because they had a lack of knowledge of how the industrialization would affect them.
· “The roadbuilders didn’t deviate an inch from the plan the headman was following. Every hut that lay in the proposed roadpath was leveled. And, Celie, our church, our school, my hut, all went down in a matter of hours.” –pg. 170 / · Demonstrates how industrialization can destroy entire communities.
· People could claim that the building of the road is for the greater good of the community, as it gives them access to easy travel, but it destroyed the entire community so there is now no real reason to travel.
Feminism / · “Harpo say, I love you, Squeak. He kneel down and try to put his arms round her waist. She stand up. My name Mary Agnes, she say.” / · This quote is after the prison guard rapes Mary Agnes and she returns home.
· She denounces the nickname Harpo has given her because it diminishes who she is.
· A squeak is a small unimportant noise and that nickname makes her feel small and unimportant.
· To stand up to him she makes Harpo call her by her real name.
· “Harpo ast his daddy why he beat me. Mr. ____ say, Cause she my wife. Plus, she stubborn. All women good for—he don’t finish. He just tuck his chin over the paper like he do. Remind me of Pa.” / · Mr. _____ tries to justify why he beats Celie. He believes that a man should beat his wife. He also believes it is his right to beat Celie because she is stubborn, even though at the beginning of the novel she is extremely passive.
· It is because of his denial that he is still in love with Shug Avery that he must justify his need to beat Celie.
· Mr. _____ reminds Celie of her Pa because he too believes he can beat a woman just because she is a woman. Like how a man believes he can beat a dog because they are a lesser species.
· “The world is changing. It is no longer a world just for boys and men.” / · This quote is what Nettie says to Tashi’s father to explain why it is important to educate women.
· This quote is especially profound because not only does this apply to Tashi’s situation, but it also applies to Celie’s situation as well.
· Tashi becomes empowered through education by giving her an independent mind. Celie becomes independent through making pants, something that was traditionally for men, like education.
Religion / · “You better tell nobody but God. It’d kill your mammy.” / · This quote is the preface to Celie’s first letter to God.
· Celie’s stepfather told her this after he raped her. She takes what he says literally and begins writing to God because he is the only one who will listen to her.
· The higher Celie has a belief in God the less she is in control of her life. At the beginning of the novel God is Celie’s confidante, but as the novel progresses Shug becomes her confidante and in turn Celie begins to question God and the control he holds over her life.
· “The white missionary before you would not let us have this ceremony, said Joseph. But the Olinka like it very much. We know a roofleaf is not Jesus Christ, but in its own humble way, is it not God?” / · This quote is from one of the Olinka village people after they told the story of the roofleaf.
· In this quote we can see that religions are not always accepting of other religions. This is evident through the missionary not allowing the Olinka to perform their roofleaf ceremony.
· Like Jesus Christ, the roofleaf is the Olinka’s version of a savior, in a more literal sense. Jesus Christ was a spiritual savior, while the roofleaf provides the Olinka’s with shelter, saving them from storms.
· It is also interesting how Joseph says “the white missionary”, assuming that because Nettie and the others are black they are more akin to the Olinka and will therefore, be more likely to understand the purpose of the ceremony.
· “Sinners have more good times.” / · This quote is from Celie’s first letter to Nettie and not to God.
· Celie has begun to question God ever since she learned that her father was in fact her step-dad.
· She is questioning whether God actually cares about her because compared to Shug, a sinner; she has been a good Christian woman. Which is why Celie said this quote.
· Shug wants Celie to stop with this blasphemy so she explains that religion is not just going to church it is about finding and feeling God.
· This is an important turning point for Celie. It makes her realize that her happiness is what makes God happy
Homosexuality / · “I feel like us been doing something wrong” Pg.79 / · Celie feels that her increasingly lesbian relationship with Shug is somehow wrong.
· At the turn of the century, homosexuality was not something that was generally accepted.
· This societal stigma fosters unease within Celie.
· “All the men got they eyes glued to Shug’s bosom. I got my eyes glued there too. I feel my nipples harden under my dress.” Pg. 83 / · While watching Shug sing, Celie starts to become sexually attracted to Shug.
· It is clear that the men who are around Celie are aroused, but Celie seems to be the only female to be aroused.
· This event sparks a clear homosexual desire within Celie.
· Overall, homosexuality in the novel only contributes to the general concept of sexual ambiguity. This pairs well with other concepts such as religious ambiguity and moral ambiguity.
Sexism / · “You got to let them know who got the upper hand. They got it, I say.” –pg.17 / · Early in the novel, Celie has come to know that the sex with the power is the male.
· The idea of a female having power in a relationship seems strange to Celie because she’s never seen it in practice.
· “His daddy never washa dish in his life” –pg. 60 / · Men don’t uphold the same responsibilities as women do.
· The ‘dirty work’ (like washing dishes) is left to the lesser gender (women).
· “Me and Shug dress up in our new blue flower pants” –pg.179 / · Pants in the novel are symbolic of a changing role for females; they are commonly a masculine article, but as Celie begins to wear and even make them, she steps outside of the boundaries set by sexism.
· “One ritual they do have to celebrate womanhood is so bloody and painful” –pg.189 / · As Nettie describes the place of women in Africa, she reveals that the only recognition they get is negative recognition, extending sexism in the novel outside of Celie’s circumstance.
Racism / · "[Miss Millie] say to Sofia, All your children so clean, she say, would you like to work for me, be my maid?" / · Miss Millie expects Sofia to answer yes, as if serving a white woman would be a rewarding position for a black woman.
· Miss Millie shows that her opinion of colored people is very low and even the cleanest of them would only deserve to be below a white person in stature.
· "Her main worry is just the thought of ever being some white women maid." / · Although as previously shown in the novel, that white people are racist towards black people, it is shown in this quote that the black people are also racist towards the white people.
· In the novel, the Caucasians place themselves above the colored person, which sparks anger within the black people causing a reaction of dislike and racism towards the white people.
· "Dont you hear me talking to you, he shout. He maybe six years old... He come streaming up to where us sit, haul off and kick Sofia leg." / · The mayor’s child that Sofia is taking care of treats Sofia like a slave, demanding and yelling at her and abusing her.
· The actions shown by the child are representative of the parents’ actions, as they are the ones to teach and nurture the child.
· This quote explains how the racism is passed on from generation to the next, and why the children are growing up racist, as they are taught to treat black people badly.
· "That's the problem, she say. Have you ever seen a white person and a coloured person sitting side by side in a car?" / · Miss Millie points out that the racism in this novel is greater then in just the main characters, as to a point where two friends from the difference races cannot sit beside each other in a car without receiving a bad name.
· The span of racism in the novel spreads throughout whole communities and is a larger societal issue.
Prejudice / · "I wonder why she was ever born.
· Well, I say, us don't have to wonder bout darkies." / · Celie is quite blunt in pointing out that many colored women have children because they are raped, as the black women (including herself) have experienced rape often enough as to make it common.
· That Celie is so blunt makes it clear that the men are prejudice to the women enough to make it common, and something that all women recognize is happening they can't do anything about."
· "Sheriff think bout the women he know, say, Yep, your right there." / · The Sherriff agrees that women are crazy, making obvious to the reader that his opinion of women is very low and that he values a man as being more important.
· That he is agreeing with another man shows that the general opinion of black women is poor, or that they are poorly considered.